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Aston Villa boss Dean Smith has urged Tammy Abraham to stay and fire them into the Premier League.

Smith talked face-to-face with the 21-year-old on-loan Chelsea striker to find out if he was still keen on a temporary switch to Wolves.

“Monday was an agreed day off for Tammy," said Smith. "He came back in on Tuesday. I spoke to him then about his attitude, and it's been spot-on since then.

"He's been happy here. I asked if he was looking to go elsewhere and he reiterated he was happy to be at Villa , was enjoying playing here and enjoying scoring goals — and nothing more was really said to him. I've said right from the outset I couldn't see him going anywhere, and I'd have been amazed if he had.

“The way I look at it, he's scored 23 goals in this league before with Bristol City. He's got 16 now. He's got 20 games to go, if he scores another ten he's never playing in the Championship again. He's a Premier League player who's here, playing in the Championship with us. We're hoping he can score the goals to take us to the Premier League."

On the prospect of Wolves taking Abraham on-loan, Smith added: “I don't believe a recall to send him on loan again would have made sense. He's been on loan three times already. He's enjoying his football here and long may that continue.

“I think everyone knew there was a release clause if Chelsea wanted to pull him back. But my understanding is that if they had activated it it would be for him to play for them, because they had no intention of selling him.

“His state of mind is fine. This has been going on for two or three weeks now and he's scored goals in that time."